'tis The Off-season For A Ballplayer To Make His Best Moves Forward

In a game last week against the Atlanta Braves, Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos had nine at-bats. He was the leadoff man every inning, and each time up he tried to bunt for a base hit.

Raines, the former Sanford prep star who has been an All-Star performer with the Expos for the past five seasons, was 5-for-9 that afternoon in West Palm Beach, and not one of his hits traveled more than 20 feet.

The next day, he repeated his bunting acts with similar success.

''We told him to try to bunt for a hit each inning,'' said Bob Gebhard, Montreal's minor league director. ''That's why he's here, to improve his bunting to make himself a better player.''

Raines had a .320 average last season, third-best in the National League. If he could bunt for more hits next year, he might win a batting title -- and make the Expos more of a threat in the NL East.

So instead of relaxing during the off-season, he's among 120 players competing on four teams in West Palm Beach. Obviously, they aren't playing typical games.

It's the latest in front-office experimenting: classroom baseball.

Theoretically, this will improve quality players and/or decrease the time minor-league prospects need to reach the majors. Atlanta, Texas and Baltimore also have squads in West Palm Beach.

The regular season recently ended, yet these clubs have been practicing for next year for the past two weeks.

''We keep no statistics or records,'' Gebhard said. ''If we want a guy to work on baserunning, we'll have him become a pinch runner each inning. If a pitcher is having trouble, we'll have a coach stand behind the mound and talk to him for the entire game. Our emphasis is on teaching, that's what the Instructional League allegedly is all about.''

Allegedly.

That's why the four teams are experimenting apart from other major-league clubs training in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. Executives like Gebhard didn't believe the Florida Instructional League was providing players with enough instruction.

''We feel there is too much emphasis on winning and not enough on teaching,'' he said. ''So we set up our own camps.''

Gebhard says the four maverick teams seem to like the new arrangement, that they probably will continue it next year.

Meanwhile, the Florida Instructional League continues, as does its counterpart -- the Arizona Instructional League. They involve 18 teams and hundreds of players, most of them ''stars of tomorrow.''

Cincinnati has a club in Tampa. The Red Sox, Indians and Royals are in Sarasota. The Mets, Cards and Tigers are in St. Petersburg. The Phillies and Twins are in Clearwater, and the Blue Jays are in Dunedin. There's even a team from Japan, the Hanshin Tigers, training in St. Petersburg to prove, or disprove, that players in that country can benefit from additional practice in America.

The Angels, Cubs, Astros, Dodgers, Brewers, A's, Giants and Mariners have Instructional League teams in Arizona. Only the Yankees, White Sox, Padres and Pirates don't have fall clubs.

The Instructional Leagues exemplify the time and expense major-league clubs are willing to spend hoping to produce one player who might make a difference in next year's pennant races.

''It costs each major-league team $90,000 to $100,000 to field an Instructional League team,'' said Jim Baumer, Philadelphia's vice president of player development and scouting. ''The money is well worth it, if you can get a player to the major leagues a year or two ahead of schedule.''

That's the main idea . . . take a prospect with promise after a year or two of minor-league experience and force-feed him fundamentals so that he may jump a classification next year.

An example: In 1969 Bert Blyleven signed out of high school with the Twins and pitched that summer for a Rookie League team. He worked in the Instructional League that fall, reported to spring training in Orlando and was promoted to Minnesota in June 1970.

Another: Dwight Gooden was signed out of high school by the Mets, spent two seasons in the minors and one fall in the Instructional League, then became the National League's Rookie of the Year in 1984.

Yet another: Bret Saberhagen followed the same path to success with the Royals.

Baumer: ''Certainly those players justified their teams' Instructional League expenses. The rest of us are trying to develop the same types of players.''

Routines are similar: Players gather at 10 a.m. at various minor-league training complexes to work on fundamentals for a few hours. They break for lunch and return to play a game.

A ''real'' game with three outs, nine innings, umpires and no coaching in the field.

''We feel you have to give the players a competitive atmosphere to let them develop their skills,'' Baumer said. ''You can only practice so much, then you have to test yourself in a competitive situation. That's why I don't see this league going the way of the one in West Palm Beach.''